


Lullaby

by PetrichorIllusions



Category: Kaleidotrope (Podcast)
Genre: Babies, Domestic, Gen, Harridrew’s daughter, I just needed Drew singing to his daughter okay, Kidfic, Lullabies, Singing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:27:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23233975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PetrichorIllusions/pseuds/PetrichorIllusions
Summary: “He tells her about things he likes, about the things he loves; tells her which Hogwarts house he thinks she’ll be in, tells her where Harrison thinks she’ll be. He tells her how much they love her, all of the things they want for her future. She takes it all in solemnly, though she begins to wriggle whenever he pauses too long for breath. He thinks of it as her own personal radio station.”Their daughter won’t sleep, but luckily Drew is pretty good when it comes to monologuing.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	Lullaby

**Author's Note:**

> I’d recommend this as background music if you’re looking for something: https://youtu.be/70VlAyEUXYM

It’s the middle of the night, so late it’s mostly early. Drew can hear Harrison breath, in and out soft beside him, and a solitary blackbird outside the window is just beginning to trill. 

And over the top of it all, a shrill wailing that means Thea is awake again, for the umpteenth time tonight. 

He drags his eyes open, enough to see the exhaustion seeping from every line in Harrison’s face as he tries to drag himself into wakefulness. Drew isn’t feeling much better himself, but for Harrison’s sake, he’ll take this one. He sits up, and reaches to squeeze Harrison’s hand. Harrison’s cheeks lift upwards into a smile, though it’s gone as quickly as it appears. Drew’s pretty sure he’s fallen back to sleep before he even gets out of the bed. 

Thea quiets as soon as she can see him, and Drew never thinks he could love his daughter more until moments like these, when she fills his heart further close to bursting, and he forgives her every second of lost sleep. 

He moves to the other side of the crib to pick her up, and as soon as she loses sight of him her mouth opens into another long wail. He whispers softly to her as he lifts her onto his hip, rocking her gently. Her cries falter once again, and he thinks for a second that this might be enough to lull her back to sleep, but then he misses a bounce to open the door, and the crying picks back up with added gusto. 

Out of the room, Drew starts to whisper to her, soft words interspersed with kisses to her downy hair. When he’s downstairs, door safely shut behind him to give Harrison some rest, he lets his voice grow out of a whisper. 

“What’s all this about, hey?” He asks her, as if she can understand him. He knows she doesn’t, not yet, but something about his tone causes a hiccup in her crying, and it’s enough to bring it down to whimpering. 

He keeps talking as he changes her, as he gets her a bottle. She sucks on it as he speaks, until he runs out of things to say. But her eyes are drifting closed, and he wonders if she’ll stay asleep this time. 

She doesn’t. 

Almost as soon as he stops talking, she pushes the bottle away, mouth puckered into a tiny frown. She looks a second away from screaming again, and he’s really hoping to avoid that. He gentles her, shushing her with her words, and after a few minutes of him speaking she consents to taking the bottle again. 

“Good girl,” he tells her, and this time he keeps talking. 

He tells her poems, some he knows in full, some just fragments - things he’d learned for Harrison, things he’d read and loved so much he’d committed to memory. The poems turn into quotes as she finishes the bottle, and he takes her over to the sofa. 

He lies her on his chest, heart melting as it always does when she wraps her hand around one of his fingers. She hasn’t started crying again yet, which is a small miracle on its own, but her eyes are wide in that way that means she isn’t going back to sleep. He likes to think she’s listening, even if the words might not mean anything just yet. 

So he tells her about things he likes, about the things he loves; tells her which Hogwarts house he thinks she’ll be in, tells her where Harrison thinks she’ll be. He tells her how much they love her, all of the things they want for her future. She takes it all in solemnly, though she begins to wriggle whenever he pauses too long for breath. He thinks of it as her own personal radio station. 

Eventually, when he runs out of words, he turns to music. He’s never set much store by his voice, never been one to hit all the right notes, especially in public. But Thea doesn’t care about all that just yet, and when she gurgles happily a verse into The Cranberries, and it’s all the encouragement he needs. He gets a few verses into a song from Rent, then realises what the next lyrics are and cuts himself off with a laugh. 

Thea doesn’t immediately react to him stopping, and he looks down to see her eyelids finally drooping. He sings another song, this one a lullaby, melody hummed where he can’t remember the lyrics. Her tiny breaths even out, and he thinks she might finally be asleep. He keeps humming as his own eyes drift closed, and it isn’t long at all before they’re both fast asleep, peace stealing over the house again at last. 


End file.
